Philippines

Jeepney+ NAMA

Background

Transport is the largest source of air pollution and energy-related Greenhouse gases (GHG) (34% of total GHG emissions) in the Philippines, whereby road transport is the largest contributor (with over 80%). In October 2015, the Philippines submitted their official conditional GHG mitigation target to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC), in which the Government stated an emission reduction target of 70% until 2030 with international support. In order to achieve this emission reduction as well as climate change adaptation the Philippine government had launched several programmes and regulations. One of them is the Climate Change Act, a policy framework to systematically address climate change, under which the Climate Change Commission (CCC) was established. The CCC is in charge of coordinating, monitoring and evaluating governmental programmes and action plans related to climate change, as well as implementing the Philippine Greenhouse Gas Inventory Management and Reporting System.

The highly fragmented public transport system with a large number of small jeepneys, Asian Utility Vehicles and city buses, is dominating the transport sector significantly. This has led to low quality public transport service and dangerous and congested traffic situations, most notably in Metro Manila. Jeepneys are the most common mode of public transport in the Philippines capable of accommodating 12 to 32 passengers per vehicle. These paratransit vehicles are of great importance in the context of climate change actions in the transport sector as they make up an overwhelming 80% of vehicle kilometers travelled and count for approx. 40% of all vehicle trips in the Philippines.

The Government is promoting the improvement of the road-based public transport in the Philippines by implementing the so-called “Jeepney+ NAMA of the Philippine Government – Transforming Road-based Public Transport in the Philippines”. With technical support of the GIZ TRANSfer project the Department of Transport and Communications (DOTC) of the Philippines aims to reduce GHG emissions by consolidating public transport service and modernising the jeepney fleet.

Project Objective

The objective of the Jeepney+ NAMA is to achieve a consolidated, modernized and improved road-based public transport system in the Philippines, making it more energy- and emission-efficient, as well as more attractive, reliable, safe and environment-friendly.

The NAMA is a combination of avoid, shift and improve approaches to reduce emissions from public transport and involves the introduction of a phased structural reform process. It combines shift measures to higher capacity, more efficient vehicles, facilitated by a consolidation of current transit routes, with measures to modernise the existing vehicle fleet.

The scope of the NAMA is the road-based public transport reform targeting jeepneys and buses in major cities in the Philippines. Geographically, the programme covers the major urban areas in the Philippines, starting with Metro Manila in Phase 1 (2016-2026). From there it has the potential to initiate a transformational change to the entire road-based public transport market in the Philippines (Phase 2: Further cities all over the country (2020-2026)).

Activities on t-NAMAs / Transport and Climate Change

Supporting measures:

Introducing a National Transport Policy

Reorganising the institutional set up of public transport provision

Enhancing the public transport capacities of the Government to ensure Long term rationalised network planning

Direct mitigation actions:

Consolidation and modernisation of the jeepney fleet (replacement of old units against energy-efficient at least EURO4 diesel and electric buses, mini-buses and “modern jeepneys”)

The fourth component of the NAMA, the consolidation and modernisation of the jeepney and bus industry, is the core of this comprehensive NAMA approach. It will focus on two main work streams, initially the consolidation and regulation of road-based public transport services and secondly the technological modernisation of the jeepney fleet through the replacement of old jeepneys with more energy efficient low-emission vehicles.

The first work stream aims to improve the current inefficient operation of services by merging franchises and reducing the total amount of public transport vehicles by replacing old jeepneys with new, higher capacity and climate-friendly vehicles. The objective is to shift all passengers’ kilometers from the current jeepneys and buses on major corridors with highly frequented routes to cleaner city buses by 2030.

The second work stream aims to shift old jeepneys to modern, new jeepneys units by replacing the old jeepney with cleaner and more efficient new jeepneys with alternative propulsion systems or improved technologies. Moreover, the modernisation programme will not only address emissions but also safety, accessibility and other operational concerns of the public transport fleet through the introduction of new vehicle standards.

Further measures are the expansion and the improvement of public transport stops to increase operational efficiency and traffic flow.

Further Reading

Further publications will be available soon.

Further Information

The TRANSfer project is run by GIZ and funded by the International Climate Initiative of the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB).